The trend of Australia and New Zealand being early technology adopters, combined with the fact we’re used regularly as the test bed for global organisations trialling new solutions and systems, places us in a perfect position to demonstrate the potential magic such revolutionary technologies can bring to businesses.

As mobile and consumer technology alters our lives, new coinages bubble up in the social networks to capture and express how people live. Here are 10 new words you need to know in order to describe the culture of Silicon Valley as well as the culture changes the valley is bringing into existence.

Stats about online retailers' holiday performance poured into my inbox as the year ended, but one in particular really caught my eye. Amazon noted that its final Christmas Prime Now (same-day delivery) order was placed on Dec. 24 at 10:24 p.m. -- and was delivered 42 minutes later, at 11:06 p.m.

"Futurology has always bounced around between common sense, nonsense and a healthy dose of wishful thinking." That's how a 2012 Scientific American article summed up the history of prediction. Our compelling annual urge to predict the future traces back to the ancient Greeks and their Delphic Oracle--so who am I to argue with such venerable tradition? Here's my top 10 countdown for the shape of our industry in 2015:

At IBM's Think Forum in New York, CEO Ginni Rometty took us through the success and future of Watson, IBM's automated decision engine. This technology fascinates me because it's the first major step to change the basic computing paradigm.

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